


SM High

by janaimobar



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Comedy, M/M, OT12 - Freeform, highschool!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-05-16 21:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5840812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janaimobar/pseuds/janaimobar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyungsoo is new. Jongin is a god. Zitao is a huge gossip.<br/>Welcome to SM High. </p>
<p>(Featuring ot12 in a highschool au. Supposed to be humorous but I suck?<br/>This was totally spur of the moment I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. )</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“You will not _believe_ what just happened!”

There was a flurry of movement in Sehun’s peripheral and then the school library table shook briefly beneath him. A huge black bag, no doubt expensive, was tossed down, accompanied by some haughty huffs as Zitao sat himself in the seat across.

“You accidentally liked Amber’s photo on instagram from forty weeks ago,” Sehun answered, not looking up from his phone. He had his textbooks and notes spread out across the table, because he liked the illusion of productivity that they gave, but anyone around him could see he was blatantly not studying.

“No!” Zitao gasped with relish. “Who do you think I _am_?”

“You and Yuri are wearing the same shirt.” Here Sehun raised one eyebrow, gracing Zitao a questioning smirk. “Again.”

“We don’t speak of that,” he answered scathingly, and Sehun rolled his eyes, turning back to his phone. “Last guess!”

Sehun pursed his lips, and then suddenly brightened. “Jongin finally came out?”

“No!” Zitao countered with a satisfied smirk, and sat back into his chair. “Besides, that’s old news. He came out like four months ago, when he decided to start using a maroon man-purse.”

“Fine,” Sehun sighed exorbitantly, and finally set down his phone, much to Zitao’s indulgence. “Tell me.”

Zitao leaned forward, clearly excited to once have the upper hand. “Mr. Park asked me to go to the science room during art because we needed rulers. And I walked in on Yixing and Jongdae _making out_.”

“Oh.” Sehun picked up his phone again, disinterested.

“Sehun!” Zitao snapped in surprise. “ _Yixing!_ And _Jongdae_! Yixing is like…like…” He threw his hands up in the air helplessly, unable to come up with a word that encompassed Yixing’s adorable, flouncy innocence.

“He’s not a virgin, if that’s what you were going to say,” Sehun said indifferently.

“ _What?!_ ”

“Don’t act all surprised. If anything, it’s Jongdae I’d be more worried about. Apparently Yixing gets really weird in bed.” Sehun wiggled his eyebrows and Zitao let out a loud groan.

“I need a latte,” he muttered under his breath, and reached for his bag.

“The cafeteria doesn’t serve those,” Sehun reminded him unhelpfully.

“Who said I was going to the cafeteria?”

Sehun sat blankly for a moment, and then pushed back his chair with a grin. “Oo, Starbucks! I’m coming with.”

-

 

Kyungsoo walked into the calc room and then stopped, deciding that this had to be the wrong class. For one, the room was half empty, even though he was already five minutes late. And secondly, all the students who were in there were either sleeping, on their phones, or crowded around some boy who was…knitting? in the back corner. Not to mention the teacher was nowhere in site. Nope, there was no way this was AP calc. Not a chance.

He glanced down at his timetable to look at the room number (32A) and then turned on his heel to check the sign on the door again, only to crash straight into a very muscled shoulder.

Kyungsoo let out a surprised squeak and stumbled back, his eyes watering suddenly and blurring his vision.

“Oh my goodness, are you alright? I’m so sorry!” came a gentle, distressed voice, and a hand reached out to steady him. Kyungsoo blinked his eyes clear, and watched in fascination as a gorgeous, sun-kissed, god-like face came into focus mere inches away from his own.

“I- um- I,” Kyungsoo stuttered in reply, and when he realized his voice was failing him, instead settled on smiling weakly. The beautiful face in front of him crinkled into a laugh, and Kyungsoo felt a part of him melt because he wasn’t sure how it was possible but _oh god he was even more beautiful now._

“I’m Kim Jongin,” the god-like creature smiled, and held out a hand. Kyungsoo shook it, dazed. “Are you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you in this class before.”

Kyungsoo nodded, finding he was still rendered mute and not trusting himself to speak again until his tongue un-numbed itself.

“Jongin!” came a demanding cry from the door, and another boy barrelled through, his shoes clacking decisively against the ground. “Did you know that Yixing and Jongdae were fucking?”

His language was what brought Kyungsoo into focus again and he straightened up, taking in the sight that was Zitao, from his designer shoes to his designer jeans to his giant designer bag, the picture finished off lavishly with a red Starbucks coffee cup and a styled mass of silvery-blonde hair.

“Well I didn’t think it was an ongoing thing,” Jongin answered his question demurely, and then shrugged thoughtfully. “As far as I was aware, they just hooked up once. But if you say they’re fuck _ing,_ as in still together,” he paused, another thought lighting up his face, “or, I guess you could mean they’re doing it right now, which is kind of ridiculous but I wouldn’t put it past Yixing, then well, no, I didn’t know.”

Zitao gave him an open-mouthed shake of his head, looking decidedly offended, and then brushed past him contemptuously to take a seat at the window. “Why am I last to know this?” he asked dramatically, and slammed his bag onto the desk. He then seemed to take notice of Kyungsoo’s presence and squinted. “Who are _you_?”

“He’s new,” Jongin answered cheerfully, and then joined Zitao at the window desks, motioning Kyungsoo to follow. “I ran into him on the way in. By the way, I really am sorry about that…uh…” Jongin frowned, realizing he still didn’t know his name.

“Kyungsoo,” Kyungsoo answered quickly, finding his voice again, and then gazed awkwardly downward as Zitao proceeded to scrutinize his face. Some minutes later the teacher entered the room, ten minutes late (it’s usually fifteen, we got unlucky today, Jongin had told him with a sigh) and thus Kyungsoo was once again drawn back into the whirlwind that was his first day at SM High. If he’d ever gotten around to seeing the number on the classroom door, he would have seen that it was in fact, room 32A. But after meeting Jongin, the importance of it had seemed to slip his mind.

 

-

 

“What are you doing?” Luhan asked in exasperation. Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Jongdae were seated at their usual lunch table, but for some reason they also had all of the sauces, spices, and condiments that the school cafeteria had to offer with them. Luhan took once glance at the dozen bottles of ketchup and gave a maddened groan. “You know what, I don’t even want to know.”

“We’re organizing them,” Baekhyun answered proudly, and gave Luhan a reproachful glance. “Being helpful.”

Luhan opened his mouth to explain that hoarding all the mustard was in no way helpful to anyone, but then thought better of it and just sat down.

“I say we do it by size,” Chanyeol was arguing. “Look, it looks better that way. The soy sauce bottle are the smallest so they go over here, then the salt and pepper shakers, and then the hot sauce…”

“No, no, no,” Jongdae interrupted impatiently. “You need to organize them by type first. Look, all the sauces go together, then all the spices go together like this…”

“That’s ridiculous!” Chanyeol countered. _You three are all ridiculous,_ Luhan wanted to say, but instead listened silently to Chanyeol’s reply. “They look so bad like that. The sizes look weird, you need to organize it by height.”

“Everything’s height with you, Chanyeol,” Minseok chimed in cheerfully as he walked up, tray full. He sat down and then shot Luhan a concerned glance. “What are they doing?”

“Don’t ask me,” Luhan sighed, instead focusing on the growing group of people by the condiments table who had finished ordering food and were completely mystified at the disappearance of the salt.

“Would you believe,” came Zitao’s indignant voice, and he sat down opposite Luhan and Minseok, Kris on his arm. Kris was nodding, making small agreeing noises as Zitao continued to rant on, clearly bored out of his mind.

“Hey guys,” Luhan smiled at the couple, interrupting Zitao’s in-depth analysis of the ‘girl whose hair reminds him of carpets’, and Kris shot him a thankful glance. “What’s up?”

Kris started, “Well, I was just going to ask-”

“I can’t _believe_ you!” Baekhyun screeched from beside them, and the four of them glanced up to see him wrestling a bottle of ketchup from one of the sophomores. “Give it back! We are doing a duty to this lunchroom!” he hissed angrily, and wrenched the bottle from the student’s hands triumphantly, only to accidentally squeeze it and have an arc of red splatter itself across Jongdae’s white shirt.

“Are you _kidding_?” Jongdae cried out, and he reached for a bottle of mustard, aiming it deftly at Baekhyun’s new jeans.

“Why would you do that?!” Baekhyun gasped as a splat of yellow appeared on his kneecap. “Jongdae, you hoe! I hit you by _accident_!”

“Well I didn’t!” Jongdae replied viciously, and within seconds the table was in full-out condiment war, Chanyeol angrily defending his boyfriend by letting salt and pepper rain across the table. Luhan and Minseok, who were smart enough to clear out before the fight had even begun, ran to the corner as soy sauce splayed itself decoratively across their seats. Kris had quickly dragged Zitao away before anything off his expensive designer wardrobe became a condiment art piece, and the four of them settled in the corner to watch the war, Minseok staring forlornly at his tray full of food which he had been forced to abandon in the trenches.

Just as the hot sauce was being chucked into the air, Jongin and Sehun walked in with a short red-haired boy, conveniently at the entrance that the four had gathered around. “What…?” the red-haired boy began in awe, seemingly unable to finish his question as he drank in the site of the lunchroom, which was now drenched in various amounts of liquid, the ketchup looking nauseatingly like blood.

“Let me guess,” Sehun sighed dryly. “Junmyeon tried the ‘team bonding’ thing out again.”

“No, actually,” Minseok answered. He glanced around, momentarily puzzled. “Actually, where is Junmyeon?”

“And where’s Yixing?” Jongin followed that up.

“Probably _fucking Jongdae_ ,” Zitao replied stonily, rather loud.

“Nah, he has band practice or something,” Sehun said lazily. He glanced back at their table, where the fighting had not yet died down. “I’m out.” With that he turned and walked out of the cafeteria, giving no explanation as to what he was doing or where he was going.

“What is this school?!” the red haired boy suddenly burst out and glared around at all of them, as if it were their fault. “What in the hell is happening?”

Luhan raised his eyebrow at the stranger’s face and then glanced up at Jongin, who was hovering protectively behind him.

“This is Kyungsoo,” Jongin told them apologetically. “He’s new.”

There was a pause in which Luhan, Minseok, and Kris all stared at him, unsure what to make of his small, angry presence.

“Welcome to SM High,” Kris drawled out after a minute or so, and then grabbed Zitao by the elbow. “Come on Taozi, let’s go get lunch. I’ll drive us downtown.”

 

**A/N: Uh... I regret this already? Lol share your thoughts please, because right now my general thoughts towards this are 'what are you doing' and also 'help'.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beagle line (plus Luhan) hatches a plan.

 

**A/N: Don't ask me why this update came so fast. It's definitely not because I don't have a life and have been writing like all afternoon or anything...**

 

“Pickup for the gross old man picking his nose under the window,” Luhan called to Junmyeon from the back kitchen.

“Table three,” Junmyeon answered in exasperation as he reached for the grilled cheese. “You could just say table three.”

“It’s more fun to give the customers nicknames,” Luhan said indifferently, and then nodded as a pretty young girl opened the coffee shop door. “For example, she’s what I call ‘out of your league’.”

“I am so in her league,” Junmyeon huffed back, caring only because it was Luhan, and whipped around to the cash register. “Hi, miss,” he said with a sunny smile. “Can I get the time? I’d check my watch but I can’t seem to take my eyes off of you.”

Luhan rolled his eyes, cringing inwardly. Junmyeon was actually fairly good looking, but his grandpa-like flirting skills tended to mellow it out a bit.

The girl looked up expressionlessly from her phone screen and gave Junmyeon a blank smile. “Hi, can I have a medium low fat soy latte with no whip?”

Luhan snorted loudly enough for Junmyeon to hear him and then turned away to refill the coffee machine. He kept one ear open, listening to Junmyeon's floundering acceptance of tip, embarrassment clearly evident even in his voice, and had no doubt that his manager had turned a delightful shade of red.

“You know what,” Junmyeon grumbled as he joined Luhan in the back kitchen some time later. “I’m banning nicknames. From now on you refer to the customers as the customers.”

“Oh look, here comes idiot one, two and three,” Luhan intoned, ignoring Junmyeon, and pushed past him to meet Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Jongdae at the register. They were right on time, 4:00 to the dot; ten minutes after the school bell had rung. Both he and Junmyeon had spares last period, hence the reason they were able to open up the café a little bit earlier. Junmyeon had offered him the job after noticing that Minseok and sometimes Sehun had a habit of skipping class to spend Luhan’s spare with him. Since he was chronically broke, Luhan had gladly accepted. “Let me guess,” he greeted the three, already ringing up their orders, “A venti water for Chanyeol who really shouldn’t even be here, a grande caramel macchiato for Baekhyun, and a skinny vanilla latte, no foam, for Jongdae.”

“Thanks,” Chanyeol grinned in that deep voice, and grabbed his water, which was already at the counter. “This is why this is my favourite coffee shop.”

“You don’t even drink coffee,” Luhan told him dismissively, waiting as Baekhyun and Jongdae shelled out the required dollars. 

“I know, I hate it, it’s disgusting,” Chanyeol answered him cheerfully, and a few seconds later the three were crowded around their usual corner table, chatting away about who knows what.

“You guys are coming tonight, right?” Junmyeon called to them as Luhan stepped out to deliver a soup to another customer, which was cold, because frankly he had forgotten about it. Junmyeon was referring to the weekly Tuesday night roundups at his house, which had had a purpose that Luhan had also long forgotten about. There was a chorus of affirmatives from the table.

“Oh ya, Jongin asked me if he could bring the new guy,” Baekhyun said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Luhan looked up, amused. “He’s taken quite a shine to him, hasn’t he?”

“It’s supposed to be a committee meeting,” Junmyeon faltered. “You can’t just invite random-”

“Tell him he can come,” Luhan told Baekhyun with a cheeky grin. “You should have seen them in chemistry today. I think _their_ chemistry is what I’d rather be studying, if you know what I mean.”

Junmyeon emitted a guttural groan and Baekhyun pursed his lips thoughtfully, a mischievous glint entering his eyes. “So you’re saying the odds are…?”

“Just need the right situation.”

“Let’s ask Kris to throw a party,” Jongdae chimed in, looking equally smug.

Luhan nodded musingly, suddenly excited at the prospect of playing matchmaker. How long had it been since Jongin had been with someone? Too long, he fretfully decided. 

-

“So,” Junmyeon finished lavishly, “Any questions?”

No one moved.

Jongin felt a strange stab of pity at the silence that met committee leader’s questioning face, but it was quickly dissipated when Sehun handed him the box of donuts that was being passed around.

“Uh,” Kyungsoo piped up from beside him, and Jongin snapped up at his voice, alert, midway through taking a bite of his strawberry jelly. “Yes, actually. What are we…talking about, exactly?” He looked back at the other eleven students only to be met with blank gazes.

“This is grad committee,” Jongin told him hastily through a mouthful of donut.

“I…am aware,” Kyungsoo replied slowly. “But Junmyeon just explained the importance of lavender napkins…over teal? What does this have to do with grad, exactly?”

“No one knows,” Kris said brusquely, who had stirred briefly from where he had been napping on Junmyeon’s couch, Zitao’s body spread over his lap.

“I was trying to get you guys on board with this colour scheme,” Junmyeon said helplessly. “Last time we didn’t really decide between lavender or teal, so I just went ahead and made a presentation to convince you that we should go lavender.”

"Lavender is so last season," came Zitao's sleepy voice, managing to be sassy even while he was speaking into Kris's thigh. 

Kyungsoo just looked even more lost.

“We’re really just here because Junmyeon’s loaded and always gives us food during the meetings,” Luhan supplied tactfully. “Honestly, I didn’t even know this was grad committee until now.”

“Luhan,” Junmyeon protested sadly, but was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell, which signified the arrival of their take-out. Jongdae and Baekhyun promptly got up from where they had been playing neopets during Junmyeon’s presentation to answer the door.

Kyungsoo turned to Jongin for explanation, a bewildered look in his eyes. “It’s ok,” Jongin told him, feeling slightly guilty at not having prepared him for a full-scale hangout with his friends. “The food’s here, so now we just chill. I didn’t know Junmyeon actually had something prepared today. Usually we all just show up at his house on Tuesday nights and have dinner while he talks in the background.”

“Is this…actually grad committee?” Kyungsoo implored. “Because if it is, your grad is going to be…a hot mess. Except minus the hot. Just the mess.”

Jongin shrugged. “Junmyeon’ll figure it out. He always does. And if it does turn out to be a total disaster, Kris will fix it.”

Baekhyun and Jongdae then returned to hand out steaming styrofoam boxes of ddukbokkie, japchae, and jiggae, chaos insuing as everyone moved to grab their food. Kyungsoo accepted a box from Jongdae with a disoriented look on his face, and then the twelve of them arranged into small circles, awakening from the brief slumber they had been under while Junmyeon had been talking.

“So how did this, like…happen exactly? Why are you guys even here?” Kyungsoo asked as he settled into a group that contained Sehun, Jongin, Luhan, and himself. “Well,” Luhan answered him through a mouthful of japchae, “Junmyeon voluteered to be head and then recruited Kris, who agreed at first because they work well together and they’re both super rich so they know how to throw a kick-ass party-”

“Well, Kris does, Junmyeon has never thrown a party in his life-” Sehun interrupted.

“-he’s thrown rich-people galas-”

“-that doesn’t count-”

“-but anyway, Kris could make it cool. But then he started dating Zitao, who insisted on coming to the meetings, and then Zitao started inviting Baekhyun and Sehun-”

“-and Baekhyun invited Chanyeol and Jongdae and I started inviting Luhan and Jongin-”

“-and now I’m dating Minseok so I invited him and Jongdae is dating Yixing so I guess he’s here too-”

“-and I invited you,” Jongin finished, smiling at Kyungsoo. “So here we are.”

Kyungsoo glanced around again at the other eleven, who were sitting chatting on Junmyeon’s expensive carpet floor while Junmyeon looked on with a pained expression, and decided that there were a lot worse ways he could spend a Tuesday night.

-

“Did you know he lives near me too? How funny is that! I literally just need to walk two blocks down and then turn left and go up the path and his house is like right there, it’s so weird-”

Sehun rolled his eyes inwardly, effectively deciding to tune Jongin out. It wasn’t that he hadn’t enjoyed listening to him rattle on about Kyungsoo for the past ten minutes; it was just that…he hadn’t. They were on their way to their frequent practices at the school dance studio, preparing for the showcase that was being held next month, and Sehun had listened to him talk all the way from Bio on the third floor to the school basement. He waited patiently as Jongin opened the door to the studio and then shouldered past him, wanting to be away from him and his Kyungsoo-obsessed mouth.

Yixing was already there, freestyling intensely to…Rihanna, was it? and not even noticing the pair’s entrance. Sehun waited for a moment, and then walked around to block the mirrors so that Yixing would take notice of him. For a moment Yixing kept dancing, and then there was a lull in the music and he paused, turning his head to say “Bitch better have my money!” with the lyrics as a final flourish. “I’m serious,” Yixing added as Sehun reached for the remote to pause the speaker. “You owe me ten dollars.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Sehun waved him off, already disconnecting Yixing’s phone from the bluetooth so he could play his own music.

As he settled on something that matched his mood (I’ll Still Kill by 50 ct for reasons unbeknownst), Jongin, who had still been going on about Kyungsoo during all of this, was interrupted by the door opening accompanied by a playful “Hey cutie!” and then Sehun was forced to witness the gross sight that was Jongdae throwing himself into Yixing’s arms. He watched them with minimal interest, figuring that within the week Jongdae will have moved on to some other pretty boy toy, his social reputation not exactly low-key when it came to his rate of promiscuity. Kind of like Luhan in junior year. They fit well together, for Yixing, despite his wholesome, pure act, was just as flighty as Jongdae, though perhaps more particular when it came to those he chose to spend his time on.

“What are you doing here?” Jongin asked him mildly, giving him the bro-fist all the same.

“Just came to watch,” Jongdae said gleefully, his lips turning up in that infuriating kitten-like grin.

“That doesn’t mean-” Jongin paled visibly, but was cut off by another whoop of glee as Baekhyun entered the room. Along with Chanyeol. Sehun had stopped noting his presence some time ago, because if one of them was there, the other was bound to be too.

Jongin groaned loudly.

“Hey,” Baekhyun said, or maybe it was Chanyeol, Sehun hadn’t bothered to check.

“Ok, you guys, no,” Jongin protested. “We actually have to get something done here.”

“Oh shush,” Jongdae told him carelessly. “You already know the dance. I’ve seen you do it a million times, honestly you’re so talented you have nothing to worry about.”

“And you’re very talented too,” Jongin said cuttingly, angry the way he could only be about dance. “ _Multi_ -talented. You can talk _and_ piss me off at the same time.”

“Shh,” Jongdae answered soothingly. “You know I’m right. Besides, I have a proposition for you three.”

“And what would that be?” Yixing asked him gingerly, looping an arm around Jongdae’s shoulders and pulling him in tight. How sweet. It made Sehun want to hurl.

“Kris is having a party tonight,” Chanyeol piped up, and this time Sehun knew it was him because of the low, gravelly, baritone. “You guys are invited.”

“Mm,” Jongin began, the contradiction already on his face.

“We’ll go,” Sehun spoke over him, and deftly shut his music off. He’d already weighed his options, and spending another two hours in the studio with Jongin and then having to take the train home with him as he talked about Kyungsoo seemed to be the losing choice in comparison to a party at Wu Fan’s. It was a Friday night and he’d had a long week. Besides, Kris was hella loaded, his house was huge, and the booze would be good.

“Sehun,” Jongin started in dejectedly, but he was already packing up his stuff.

“You can bring Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun announced graciously, and with that Jongin’s face lit up and they were out the studio door within thirty seconds.

**A/N: So in case you were wondering, yes, the next chapter is definitely going to be a highschool party featuring ot12, and yes it will probably be up within the next five hours. Because I actually have no life. But also, just wanted to say...thanks for reading, guys. I really didn't think anyone would actually like this lol.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ot12 has a par-tay.

The first thing Kyungsoo thought when he walked through Kris’s door, weirdly enough, was, “I need to ask him where he bought his candles!”

It’s not like he could actually see any candles out, but it smelled absolutely delicious and for some reason Kyungsoo was gifted a Bath and Bodyworks giftcard for his last birthday and whatever was scenting the air like woodsy fresh oak leaves and McIntosh apples was no doubt coming from one of their 3-wick candles and needed to be in his possession right now.

The second thing he thought was “I should _not_ have come.”

The party was already in full swing, and whoever opened the door for him has already disappeared somewhere into Kris’s ridiculously large house. As Kyungsoo breathed inward again, the delicious smell is slightly replaced with that of beer, smoke, and sweat, and he can feel the intensity in the air along with vibrations of pounding music. He took a tentative step inwards, searching in vain for a familiar face, and then spotted Sehun. For a brief moment he’s relieved, but as he got closer he changed his mind. Sehun was sprawled on a luxurious loveseat, his legs looped over the armrest, his shoes kicked off, and his mouth fused with some red-headed chick’s lips, her hands fisting in his blonde hair. Kyungsoo gave a grimace and turned away, bumping right into Chanyeol.

“Kyungsoo!” he exclaimed happily at the sight of him. He towered over him, wearing a loose tank top that seemed to accentuate his giant shoulders, and Kyungsoo stepped backwards, startled. “You decided to come!” His words aren’t slurred, per se, so he’s not completely smashed yet, but his smile is goofy and lopsided, eyes unfocused, so Kyungsoo coul tell that he’s a bit buzzed.

“Kyungsoo!” echoed another voice, and then Baekhyun’s hand is suddenly on his shoulder, and he is definitely _drunk._ He’s giggling like crazy, and he has something pink tied around his forehead like a bandana. In his other hand he held a red cup, so stereotypical, Kyungsoo thought, and when he clapped his hand roughly against his back the liquid inside sloshed violently, drenching his thumb. Chanyeol started laughing at the sight of him, and suddenly the both of them are clinging to him in bouts of drunken laughter. “Did I ever tell you,” Baekhyun said to him, lurching a little too close to his face for comfort, “you remind me of _pomegranates?_ Isn’t that so funny? Pomegranates!”

Chanyeol let out a loud guffaw and Baekhyun clung to his forearm, still giggling like a little schoolgirl. Kyungsoo’s about to tell him that no, that’s really not funny but good effort, but then someone grabbed his waist from behind and he turned to see Jongin, his messy hair curling in front of his eyes and a dangerous smile on his face.

“Hey,” he greeted him casually. Kyungsoo smiled falteringly, and then suddenly Jongin was pulling him fiercely away, his hand gripping his wrist like a vice.

 

-

 

“You don’t let up easy, do you,” Luhan sighed, and then reached out resolutely for the next shot of tequila, downing it with only a small grimace.

“Seven!” Jongdae called out happily from where he was perched upon the ping-pong table. He refilled the shot glasses with care, placing them neatly down by Luhan and Kris respectively.

“Never have,” Kris snarled in response, and then chugged the next shot so quickly and slammed the glass down so violently that Luhan swore he could feel the granite countertop move beneath his hands.

“You guys are stopping at ten,” Junmyeon warned them worriedly. He gave them a concerned glance and then headed out of the kitchen, holding a glass of water in each hand, which he had been handing out to random partygoers the whole evening. Luhan was pretty sure he hadn’t even had a sip of beer. That was ok though, because he needed a ride home.

“ _You_ know what happens when you get too drunk,” Kris sang out as Luhan tipped down his eighth. “I think maybe you should just chill.”

“You’re the one who needs to chill,” Luhan growled, motioning at Jongdae for a refill. “Do you even remember junior year? My personal best is fifteen, this is nothing right now.”

“I do remember,” Kris said with a wicked grin. “You know what happened when you got smashed?” He leaned forward, letting out a puff of tequila-scented air when he smiled. “You became the neighbourhood hoe.”

“Fuck off,” Luhan retorted. “It’s not like you were much better.”

Kris let out a bellow of a laugh. “Honey, you made out with _Sooyoung._ And you’re gayer than David Bowie during the seventies. At least I have standards.”

“Well, she’s pretty,” Luhan muttered, only slightly embarrassed. “I was figuring things out still.”

“Right,” Kris drawled in that infuriatingly flippant voice. “Does ‘figuring things out’ include having a full blown debate over whether or not Lady Gaga is the new Madonna in the middle of the cafeteria?” He swallowed the next shot and let out a satisfied whistle. “Because if you were looking for an indicator of your sexuality, I think that was it.”

“Don’t you bring Lady Gaga into this!” Luhan practically screeched, and he too inhaled another glass. “Somebody better hold me back!”

Minseok aroused from the couch where he had been napping, sober as sober could be, and placed his hands mundanely over Luhan’s shoulders. “Ok, Lu, chill a little bit.” He eyes were strictly bored as he led Luhan away from the counter, sighing when he remembered that this mess was in fact his boyfriend. At least he was a hot mess. “I’ll get you some water.”

“Here you are!” Junmyeon interrupted cheerfully, appearing out of nowhere. He handed Luhan one of the glasses of ice water he had been sporting, placing the other one by Kris, who was partially lying on the counter and staring at the oven in a drunken stupor, and then skipped over to the kitchen in search of the animal crackers.

 

-

 

“I just wanna fucking dance!” Baekhyun shouted. “Jongdae!” he slurred, stumbling towards where his friend is perched on the ping-pong table. “Let’s go nuts!” He grabbed his arm without waiting for an answer and dragged him towards the huge, open living room, where the furniture has been moved to create a dance floor. At this point most people are too drunk or too tired to be actually dancing, but they still mill about, the music pounding as the lights go wild.

The two of them stumbled onto the floor, pushing everyone out of the way, and Baekhyun announced that this was “going to be fuckin legendary you motherfuckaaas!” before he promptly collapsed onto the ground in a bout of giggles. Jongdae, however, who for some reason has decided that this was probably the best idea Baekhyun has ever had, ignored his fallen friend. He goes full throttle into the centre, shouting at people to create a dance circle around him before he starts jerking his arms in what might be an attempt at the sprinkler.

 

-

 

Jongin dragged Kyungsoo urgently through the house, weaving in and out of people before settling down on a sofa in the lounge space. Yixing is on the couch opposite, limbs sprawled out in every which direction, staring blankly at the ceiling. He’s mumbling insistently, and when Kyungsoo strains his ears he can make out the words, “You’re just so pretty. You’re so beautiful. I’ve always thought you were beautiful, you know, but I just had to ask, like…what _ethnicity_ are you?”

“Uh…who is he talking to?” Kyungsoo asked Jongin, because there is no one else around and Yixing seems to be talking at the sky.

“He’s super high,” Jongin dismissed trivially, and then suddenly wrapped an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

Kyungsoo looked up at him in surprise, about to say something, but he’s interrupted when Yixing gasped from the other couch, “Oh, you’re just white?” his eyes widen at the ceiling, and he sits up, eyes marvelling it in fascination. “But you just look so… _Egyptian._ ”

“Let’s go somewhere else,” Jongin sighed in annoyance. “He’s ruining the mood.”

 _What mood?_ Kyungsoo wanted to ask, but he let Jongin pull him up anyway, and they leave the lounge as Yixing says, “I know this is gonna sound super cliché, but like…have you ever thought about what happens when you _die_?”

They speed through the house again, crossing the living room where Jongdae is in the middle of a dance circle, thrashing wildly about as Baekhyun rolls around on the floor beneath him in another fit of giggles. “Is he ok?” Kyungsoo asked in alarm, because for a moment he is seriously concerned that Jongdae might be having convulsions.

“He’s dancing,” Jongin explained to him carelessly, and he pulls him away from there too. They go through the kitchen, where Minseok has Luhan cradled in his lap on one of the bar stools and Kris is lying stomach-down across the counter, a bit too tall so his feet dangle of the edge. Zitao is standing in the corner, going through the snack cabinets, and sobbing as he talks incoherently.

“Zitao!” Kyungsoo said in surprise, and he breaks away from Jongin briefly to go comfort him, but he’s pulled fiercely back in alarm.

“This happens every time he gets drunk,” Jongin told him urgently. “You don’t want to go over there, trust me. At first it starts out innocently, he just wants to talk to you about ‘some things that have been going on’, and then before you know it he’s started crying about how he can’t get his hands on Gucci’s new line of shoes and is telling you his whole life story and there’s nothing you can do but sit there and try to nod understandingly once in a while even though you don’t understand and really just wish he would stop shedding tears into your beer.” He shuddered and gave Kyungsoo a pointed look before pulling him out of the kitchen.

They reached the doors that open out into the backyard, but as they did Kyungsoo spied Sehun again, wrapped up in the corner and furiously making out with whomever he has pinned to the wall. Kyungsoo squinted, expecting to see the redheaded girl from earlier, but instead when Sehun moves he reveals an attractive sophomore boy that Kyungsoo recognizes from the football team. Kyungsoo can’t help but let out a little shocked, confused squeak, and Jongin glanced at him, concerned.

“He…he was with someone else earlier,” Kyungsoo tried to explain, waving at Sehun. “A girl.”

“Oh,” Jongin said indifferently before grinning devoutly and letting out a loud wolf-whistle in Sehun’s direction. “Yeah, he’s kind of a whore.”

“But,” Kyungsoo protested, still confused as he glances back at Sehun, who now has his legs wrapped around the football sophomore. “A girl?”

Jongin shrugged. “He’s not very picky.” With that, as if he could wait no longer, Jongin pulled him out the backyard doors and they stumbled out into the cool night air. Kyungsoo took in the first fresh breath he’d had all evening, and leaned back against the house, sighing.

“I’m glad you decided to come,” Jongin said from beside him, and Kyungsoo turned to look him in the eyes. They’re glinting dangerously, and Kyungsoo remembers with a jolt that Jongin has no doubt been drinking as well. Before he can really answer, Jongin has pulled him in and his mouth is covering his and suddenly they are kissing and Kyungsoo can feel himself go into a panic.

He placed his hands on Jongin’s chest and pushed back firmly, breaking them apart, and Jongin stumbled backward, confused. Kyungsoo opened his mouth, about to spill out a speech about how this was too fast and he’s not ready and they just met last week, but it’s too slow and in the time he’s preparing to talk he also takes note of the perfect angle of Jongin’s jawline, the flawless curve of his lip, and he decides _fuck it,_ and then they are kissing again, all tongue with the slightest taste of gin.

 

-

 

“Why hello there,” Luhan smiled genially from the coffee shop cashier. Kyungsoo blinked up in confusion, his wide eyes widening even further as he recognized Luhan’s angelic face.

“Oh,” he faltered, wispy red bangs falling across his forehead. “Hey.”

“Here to cure the hangover?” Luhan promptly guessed, and whipped out a large cup, writing _espresso_ in neat, curling scripture. “On the house for you, my friend.”

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo smiled blearily. “How are you working?” he added, convinced that he’d seen Luhan down an exorbitant amount of Kris’s best tequila not more than five hours ago. Of course, he couldn't be completely sure of what had happened last night, for after he and Jongin came inside from the backyard, somebody had handed him a red cup, he’d accepted, and it all kind of went down from there. 

“I hold my liquor well,” Luhan answered vaguely, and Kyungsoo could only nod in response, feeling too miserable to think up a better response.

“He means he knows how to party,” Junmyeon corrected, and stepped out from the swinging back room doors. He sported the same apron Luhan had looped around his slim waist, but it was decidedly cleaner. It also had the proud, shiny nametag that read _manager_ pinned to his left breast. As he started up the espresso machine he added, “He was quite the animal in his sophomore and junior years. Practically legend,” his voice slightly disapproving.

“Past that now,” Luhan told him impatiently, who had no real desire to go into his reasons for that at the moment. “Thankfully Junmyeon can’t say the same for himself.” He gave Kyungsoo a look as if to say _can you imagine this loser drunk,_ to which Kyungsoo realized the answer was no, no he could not. With that his coffee was placed upon the counter, and he accepted it with a thankful smile. “This was what I used to drink after the worst nights,” Luhan told him airily. “The best java you can get, I promise. You’ll be alert and bouncing within the hour.”

Kyungsoo was finding it hard to stay on his feet, much less _bounce,_ but he thanked Luhan again anyway before shambling his way over to the exit.

“And Kyungsoo,” Luhan added, his voice sort of sing-songy in this devious sort of way, “Tell Jongin hi for me.”

Kyungsoo felt his insides twist funnily and then he ducked his head out the door, pretending he hadn’t seen Junmyeon’s mouth twist up at the corners in a laugh.

 

**A/N: So, I lied last time. This didn't get uploaded within five hours. But I'm still doing pretty good, three updates in three days, eh? Anyway, thanks again for reading because I feel like I have to say that all the time because I never really expect people to actually like my stuff lol. So thank you, it means a lot to me. <3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris and some others contend with hangovers while trying to hand in a project.

_“You are the dancing queen…_

_Young and sweet…_

_Only seventeen..."_

Kris let out a loud groan, reaching blindly for his phone. It had been buzzing with snapchats and texts for the last hour, but he had been insistent on catching as much sleep as he could and had ignored it, falling back into slumber once the phone had stilled. But now it was ringing infuriatingly loud. And there was only one person that had that song set as their ringtone (a request which Kris had only begrudgingly filled when he was threatened that he’d never get his hoodie back.)

“Hello?” Kris grumbled after scrambling for another thirty seconds or so. He sat up blearily, rubbing his eyes, his sheets sliding down over his bare shoulders.

“Sweet baby jesus how long does it take you to answer? I sent you like three text messages; did you not read any of them? I waited like an hour in between each one in case they didn’t send because your phone is such crap, but like three in a row? Like, no shade, but ...that thing is total shit.”

By now Kris had fully straightened, holding the phone slightly away from him because the tinny voice was not helping his hangover. “Taozi,” he said patiently when he could finally get a word in edgewise. “I’m sorry, I was sleeping.”

“Well then get up!” Zitao said in what sounded like utter exasperation. “We have a project due on Monday and I don’t know what it’s even about, so…you need to come to my house right now and finish it.”

“I just woke up,” Kris mumbled unevenly. “Give me an hour or so.”

“Kris-ah, it’s almost five p.m. You need to come now.”

“Five p.m?!”

“Yes,” Zitao said impatiently. “You slept in.”

Kris groaned loudly, his head still pounding. It had been a bad idea to challenge Luhan to a drinking game, a bad idea indeed. “Can’t we do this tomorrow?”

“I’m out of town. My mom’s taking me shopping.”

“Ughhh,” Kris moaned again, and then pulled his blankets off him with a forceful growl. “I’ll be there in fifteen.”

 

-

 

“Luhan?” Junmyeon called.

“Coming,” Luhan grunted, forcing the oven door shut with one last shove. He took in a deep breath before he walked back out front, not wanting to admit that he had broken a sweat over the stupid oven door. “Need something?”

“Yeah,” Junmyeon told him with an apologetic look on his face. “I know I gave you an eight hour shift today and usually you get Sundays off but… Victoria can’t work tomorrow and I’m busy so…you need to come in tomorrow. For another shift. For…eight hours.” He cringed, as if expecting Luhan to attack him.

“Yeah, sure,” Luhan replied offhandedly, and then turned on the sink tap so that he could dampen a towel. He pressed it to his forehead, breathing a sigh of relief (good god that oven door had done a number on him, he needed to start going to the gym) and then noted Junmyeon’s silence. He lowered the towel sheepishly, and then awkwardly began to wipe up the counters with it instead.

“Are you ok?” Junmyeon asked him, concerned.

“Oh yeah, fine,” Luhan answered quickly, wondering if he really looked that bad. Well, he had only gotten an hour’s worth of sleep before coming to work, so it wasn’t like he was that unfit, it was just that he was tired-

“But you’ve never accepted a shift so easily,” Junmyeon said suspiciously, breaking his train of thought. “Least of all eight hour shifts.”

“Oh,” Luhan said, stopping his scrubbing. “That. Yeah. Well, I don’t have any other plans, so.”

Junmyeon raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have any other plans? Last time I asked you to come in fifteen minutes early to check if the new filter parts had been delivered and you told me you couldn’t because you had to fix Sehun’s hair before he went to detention.” He leaned back against the counters. “You always have plans.”

“Okay, first of all,” Luhan answered defensively, “Sehun just dyed his hair and the dye made his hair super stringy and that teacher is a hard-ass, so you can’t blame me for wanting to make sure it looked decent before he went in to serve his time-” Junmyeon frowned slightly, but Luhan continued before he could contradict. “-I’m a good friend, okay? You never know, the teacher could have a thing about hair. She might think that if you don’t brush it you don’t respect her. Or that you just had sex or something.”

“Okay…you’re crazy,” Junmyeon said slowly, “but tomorrow is a Sunday. I’ve never seen you without plans on a Sunday.”

Luhan sighed. “Everyone’s working on some dumb English presentation. It’s worth like 20% of their final grade. How is it that they all ended up in the same class? Anyway, Minseok is rehearsing for it tomorrow with Jongin, and Jongin told me I couldn’t come because I make him uncomfortable during rehearsals. Sehun met some sophomore at Kris’s and he’s going to his place, so obviously I’m not gonna stick my nose into that-”

Junmyeon shuddered in agreement.

“-and Jongdae said he’s helping Yixing with that stupid project too, and we both know what ‘helping’ means- it means I really don’t want to be there while they’re sucking face no thanks- Tao’s out of town, Baek isn’t answering any of my texts…basically I’m friendless for the weekend.”

“Well, you still have me,” Junmyeon said with a bright smile.

Luhan glanced at him balefully. “Yay.”

 

-

 

“You are not helping,” Yixing told Jongdae, who was perched precariously on the edge of his couch overtop of a hunk of styrofoam, wielding an exacto knife.

“Babe,” Jongdae grunted haughtily, pulling himself awkwardly upward and readjusting his glasses that had slid down his nose, “Let me remind you that I’m the one-”

“-that took English 30 last year, I know. But I brought you over here to help me finish, not start an entirely new project, also I was going to save that styrofoam in case I ever need to repack the speakers-”

“Listen, this is going to be great,” Jongdae ignored him, and began to work the exacto knife down the middle of the styrofoam. “Dioramas. They’re always winners. Who likes boring Power Points? Nobody. I’m basically handing you the A here, you could at least be appreciative-yikes!” The block beneath him had suddenly split into two, toppling downwards from Jongdae’s flailing hands.

“Oh my god,” Yixing groaned. “I am not doing this right now. The project is due tomorrow, I’ve got three quarters of a presentation done and I promised Baekhyun I would finish it because he did like, all of it.” He raised his hands to his temples, still feeling the effects of last night’s fun. If Baekhyun could just pick up his damned phone-

“Look,” Jongdae insisted, way too perky for Yixing’s liking considering the amount of alcohol he had downed the night before, and held up the split pieces of styrofoam. “This will be the base, see? You get the construction paper, and I’ll start gluing, and then we can make little characters to stand up in it out of like, play-doh or something-”

“Jongdae!” Yixing stopped him, exasperated. “I am not making a diorama!”

Jongdae fell quiet. Yixing let out a loud exhale, and then reached for his phone in the silence, checking again if Baekhyun had texted him back yet (he hadn’t.)

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae chimed, his voice ringing sweetly. Yixing glanced up at his cute face begrudgingly, and gave another sigh. “Do you want me to get you some boba instead while you get this done?” Jongdae asked him, sounding genuinely sorry, and he padded over to Yixing to wrap his arms around his shoulders.

“I don’t know how to get this done,” Yixing grumbled, trying really hard to stay mad but not resisting when Jongdae slipped beneath his arm and snuggled into his chest.

“Wait for Baekhyun then,” Jongdae murmured, and then reached up for a kiss. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

I didn’t really bring you here to help me, Yixing thought truthfully, and dodged Jongdae’s pursed lips. “You were supposed to be my motivation to get this done,” he grumbled as his boyfriend curled up into his lap.

“Motivation? What do you mean?” Jongdae laughed in that sweet little voice of his. “Like if you got it done then we’d have time to make out afterward?” he added jokingly. When Yixing didn’t answer a sort of surprised look took over Jongdae’s voice and he laughed again. “That’s exactly what you mean, isn’t it?”

Again, Yixing didn’t answer. Instead he chose to lift his chin coyly, deciding that really, all promises aside, if this project didn’t get finished well then it was Baekhyun’s fault for not texting him back.

“Well why don’t I give you some inspiration?” Jongdae murmured, his voice going husky, and this time when he leaned in for a kiss Yixing gladly accepted.

 

-

 

Jongin arrived to English first period that morning fifteen minutes early, nervous as nervous could be. He should be used to it from dancing by now, the stage fright, but this was different. He hated public speaking. Minseok was supposed to meet him so that they could rehearse one last time, but the room was empty, save for Yixing at the back desk.

“Hey,” Jongin greeted him, grateful to at least have someone to keep his mind off his butterflies, and Yixing gave him a rueful glance in response.

“Baekhyun is going to kill me.”

Jongin laughed breathily and set his laptop down. “What did you do?”

“It’s more of what I didn’t do,” Yixing answered sheepishly, and Jongin stared at him, unimpressed.

“You didn’t finish the presentation, did you.”

“Nope,” Yixing said bluntly. “I told him to come early so that I could break the news…”

“What news?” came a cheerful voice, and then Baekhyun walked in, followed by Zitao and Kris.

Yixing got up from his seat hastily, straightening and taking a deep breath. “Well,” he started, running a hand through his hair. “My great, dear, dear, perfect, amazing friend Baekhyun, most honorable of all men, it is with my deepest regrets that I inform you-”

“-You’re fucking kidding me, right?” Baekhyun cut him off, already guessing at the situation.

“You were the one who didn’t text me back,” Yixing protested guiltily, slinking back down into his seat, and Baekhyun just rolled his eyes.

“Well, we only have time for half the class to present today anyway. Let’s just go tomorrow.”

“There’s a list up for presentation order already,” Jongin informed him, and motioned to the piece of paper that had been taped up beside the teacher’s desk. He and Minseok were going third, which was fine by him. It was better to just get it over with. Baekhyun sucked in a breath and scrambled up to scrutinize the piece of paper, Kris following suite.

“We’re eleventh,” Yixing told Baekhyun, hovering behind him. “Right after Zitao and Kris.”

“Shit,” Kris said under his breath, mulling over their number ten placement. “We’re probably going today, then. There’re only twenty presentations.”

“Yixing and I might not be, though,” Baekhyun said hopefully.

“Only if the other presentations are slow,” Jongin reminded him. “The teacher’ll probably just try and get as many done as possible, though, so your odds aren’t very good....”

Baekhyun groaned.

“It’s okay,” Zitao comforted him, placing a manicured hand on his shoulder. “Kris and I will take as long as possible, if you want. It won't be a problem. If I want the spotlight for longer, then-” here he paused for a dramatic hair toss and a raised sniff of his nose, “-I shall have the spotlight.”

“Taozi, our presentation sucks,” Kris reminded him bluntly. “We literally have nothing.”

“We have me,” Zitao answered with a coquettish grin. He squeezed Baekhyun’s shoulder, who was still standing in front of the list nervously biting his lip.

“Great, you guys will make us look better,” Yixing said brightly, and gave Baekhyun a thumbs-up.

Baekhyun shook his head with a sigh. “Yixing, I love you,” he told him slowly, “But we need a plan here. There is no way we can present today.” He paused thoughtfully, pushing the others aside so he could observe the teacher’s desk as if hoping he might find something useful. His eyes swept critically over the desk and then he suddenly grinned. “Ah hah!” he announced, eyes lighting up.

“What is that,” Zitao was first to demand, and then took the object which Baekhyun had lifted from the desk into his lithe fingers. “A…remote?”

“Yup,” Baekhyun answered smugly.

“And what do you plan on doing with that?” Minseok called as he entered the room holding his presentation notes in one hand and a drink takeout holder with two cups of coffee in the other. Jongin breathed a sigh of relief.

“Minseok! Finally.”

“Sorry,” his partner told him apologetically, and handed him a coffee cup. “The line was longer than I expected, and then Luhan had this really specific order that took extra long- you know how he is about getting his coffee made by other people.”

“This could be our saving grace,” Baekhyun interrupted him, and snatched the remote back from Zitao. “I got a plan."

"What does that remote even do?" Jongin asked skeptically, gripping his coffee between two tense hands.

"You'll see," Baekhyun answered him loftily. "Kris, you guys don’t mind if we slow your presentation down a bit, right?”

“Not at all,” Kris admitted, looking relieved.

 

-

 

Kris walked nervously to the front of the room, Zitao on his tail. He could see him in his peripheral fluffing up his hair, and he felt a bloom of affection rise in his chest, which was quickly outweighed by a fresh wave of anxiety. The clock was ticking- ten minutes to the bell. If Baekhyun actually pulled this off (Kris had no idea what he was planning, but right now he needed to trust him), they might actually make it out without completely embarrassing themselves. They had about, well, five minutes of material, all of which was complete bullshit, and then after that he was at Baekhyun’s mercy. And it hadn’t helped that Minseok and Jongin, who had presented only just before, had been ridiculously good. 

“So, uh,” Kris started after he and Zitao had opened up their power point on the teacher’s laptop screen, which was projected onto the smart board that they now stood on opposite sides of. “Macbeth. By Kris.”

“And Zitao,” his partner added, giving a gracious smile.

“Right,” Kris nodded awkwardly, and then moved on to the next slide.

To his credit, Zitao could actually speak very well when he wanted to. He was, admittedly, a tad dramatic, but Kris figured this actually worked in their favour since he was taking up so much time with hand gestures and intense pauses.

"So, like honestly, this was very triggering for me," Zitao was saying, about a minute into their presentation (Kris had no idea what he was going on about, but he figured the more time wasted the better), and then suddenly the smart board blacked out. For a moment there was a murmur of confusion. Kris and Zitao exchanged twin confused looks, unsure how to proceed. Then suddenly the smartboard lit up again, playing a video. Of two attractive k-drama actors making out.

Zitao snorted loudly and then immediately began to giggle, but in a snarky sort of way, one perfect hand covering his parted lips in an attempt to hide the sound. The teacher rose from his desk, blushing and spluttering furiously. The class sat in momentary stunned silence, too confused to be amused, and the teacher quickly closed the window on his laptop just as the giggles began to start.

Kris glanced at Baekhyun out of the corner of his eye, who was looking on with a blank expression, and then slowly resumed talking.

"So as Zitao was saying...uh...this was...triggering...?" 

Kris continued to talk, stealing little glances at the clock. They burned through another three slides and he felt himself begin to lightly panic, knowing that the end was near.

But then-!

" _Babe, please..._!" It was the video again. This time the speakers reacted first, low-paid pornstar groans echoing around the room while Zitao and Kris stood staring at their presentation in confusion, but then the board blacked out. A second passed before it lit up again, much more advanced into the scene. This time the male actor was definitely not wearing a shirt. To his credit, Kris mused, he had a wicked six-pack. 

This time Zitao didn’t even try to be sneaky, he burst into full out laughter, and Kris couldn’t help but feel the corners of his mouth tug into a grin when the teacher let out a screech of indignation and slammed the laptop shut.

“My apologies,” he sputtered, and took a breath before opening the computer once more and closing the window. “I don’t know what’s happening.”

It took another minute or two for the rest of the class to settle down. Even Minseok, who was leaning back with his hands behind his head, looked amused. Only Baekhyun was sitting straight, still with a nonchalant expression, his hands in his lap.

Zitao, who had set his laughter back into a straight face, continued in complete seriousness. His voice fell into a flat monotone, as if by showing even the slightest bit of emotion he might result in bursting into giggles again. Yet, thirty seconds later- 

" _More, oh god, I loveeee youuuuu~!!"_

The class rioted. 

“That’s it!” the teacher shouted, now red in the face. “One of you connected to the bluetooth, right? Make it stop!”

The students immediately fell silent.

“How are you doing this?” the teacher demanded, now practically screeching. He glanced around, searching for a solution, and then a thought lit up his eyes and his face scrunched in crazed anger. “It must be one of those fancy i-watches, or apple-watches or whatever, right? Those new, fancy, bastard things.” He nodded to himself, completely convinced that this was the answer, scrambled to his desk in frenzy, and emptied his pencil holder, holding the container out to the class. “All of you! Put your watches in here!” He was met with more silence. “Did you not hear me?” the teacher growled, advancing towards the first row. “Watches in here! Now!”

“Um?” Zitao was the first to brazenly break the silence, and gave the teacher a pointed, disbelieving stare from underneath his fiercly winged eyes. “I'm sorry, but...this cost like, five hundred dollars? I’m not putting it in there.”

“Yes, you are,” the teacher hissed, and stamped his foot violently against the floor, shaking the desks with its force. Someone's binder crashed to the ground, and Zitao let out a yelp, jumping back slightly. “Watch. In here. Right now.”

It probably took another two minutes or so for him to walk around the room and gather everyone's watch from the disgruntled students, and Kris checked the clock fervently. One minute to the bell. Fuck yes.

“So,” Kris cleared his throat once the teacher had sat back down, fuming, his hands hovering protectively over the small container of watches in his lap. “As we were saying-”

“I just can't get enough!” the screen interrupted him. The video was back on again in full, flippant blast, and then the class was howling with laughter and the teacher was screaming incredulously with anger. For a moment he stood up to close the video but then glanced at the mirthful laughing students, gave a wail of resignation and instead sat back down at his desk, head in his arms. There was about thirty seconds of utter chaos before the bell finally rang. Kris and Zitao were out of there in a heartbeat, halfway down the hall before it had even finished ringing.

“Holy shit!” Yixing exclaimed happily once he, Baekhyun, Minseok and Jongin had joined Kris and Zitao by the stairs. “That was fucking awesome!”

Baekhyun smirked, then pulled the remote from his pocket. "Wireless remote for the smartboard, motherfuckers."

“What are you going to do with it?” Jongin inquired doubtfully.

Baekhyun smiled haughtily, and then wound his arm back in a baseball pitch to huck the remote dramatically down the hall. “Don’t want to be caught with the evidence,” he nodded knowingly to the rest of them after they had heard the small _clink_ of the remote against the ground, and grinned cockily.

“My waaatch,” Zitao wailed from beside him, looking forlornly back at the English room.

“No worries,” Baekhyun answered him smoothly, and revealed the pencil holder filled with watches from behind his back. “Nabbed it while the teacher was having a breakdown.”

There was a moment of silence as the rest of the group took this in. Jongin and Minseok stared at him in utter respect. Kris gave a slow clap. “Can’t say I’m not impressed.”

“Honestly, he did most of the work for me,” Baekhyun sniffed, referring to the teacher. “He already had that video up in another window,” he explained further as they passed around the watch container. “I just kept pressing play.”

“Well, you guys better make it worth it,” Minseok said practically after retrieving his watch. “Finish your presentations tonight or you’re doomed.”

“Yeah,” Jongin agreed with a grin. “Nothing to save you now.”

“I could just do that again,” Baekhyun said indignantly. “For like, the whole class.”

“No,” Minseok pointed out. “You threw the remote away.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun said, the cocky grin falling from his face. “Oh. Right. Shit.” He then grabbed Yixing’s arm, eliciting a surprised squeak from the latter. “Alright buddy, let’s get a move on.”

 

**A/N: I'm sorry this took me so long! School things, ya know how it is. Anyway, thank you for reading, I love you all, and also...help me come up with ideas for this au maybe? I'm having some writer's block.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grad committee gets some extra moolah.

“Sup,” Sehun announced himself casually, and eleven heads swivelled around to stare at him. He stopped at the classroom doorway, midway through eating a potato chip. The eleven boys kept their wide eyes trained on him, gazes unwavering. Sehun paused, and then swallowed his chip excruciatingly slowly. “Uh…why is everyone looking at me? Is there something on my face?”

“You _dog_ ,” Luhan answered him, his face breaking out into a grin, and suddenly he was pulled into the room, eleven pairs of hands slapping on his back in approval.

“Nice job man,” someone said passionately.

“Yeah, we really didn’t see that coming-”

“Who knew the maknae was such a playboy-”

“You really took one for the team, buddy, we’re so proud-”

“Our little boy is just growing up too fast-”

“Let me pinch his cute little cheeks-”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Sehun protested when someone began mussing up his hair. “Not that I don’t love you all grovelling me like peasants, but…” He glanced hesitanly around at them. “What exactly did I _do_?”

“Oh, you know,” Chanyeol said cheekily, pulling Sehun into a bearhug and eliciting a high pitched squeak.

“I actually don’t,” Sehun corrected him, his voice muffled under Chanyeol’s warm embrace.

“You got it _ooon_ ,” Baekhyun crowed.

“Miss Kan is cougar!” Jongdae howled after him, and the two broke down into snickers.

“We’re so proud of you man,” Chanyeol grinned goofily, and released Sehun with a rough, loving push.

“What are you guys- how even-” Sehun spluttered. The eleven boys advanced at him in a circle of which he was the donut hole, all wearing scarily wide smiles. “Everyone _hold up!_ I got it on with _who?_ Miss Kan is a _what?_ You’re so proud of me _why?_ ”

“You banged the principal’s assistant!” Luhan informed him cheerily. “And I guess you must be one hell of a love-maker, because she put in good word to the principal and our budget for grad just got doubled!” He gave him another approving slap on the back as Sehun stared at him, flabberghasted.

“I don’t know if you intended for that to happen,” Junmyeon told him in a slightly more serious tone. “You know I am strictly against students- _fraternizing_ \- with the staff, but in this case...” He gave a little shrug.

“Was she good?” Jongin snickered, looping an arm around Sehun’s shoulders. “She doesn’t really strike me as your type. A little mousy, you know?”

“Nobody who is pushing forty strikes me as your type,” Yixing added lazily.

“Sehun’s not very picky though,” Jongdae snorted from beside him, his hand comfortably in Yixing’s back pocket.

“Even I know that,” Kyungsoo said from behind in a slightly horrified tone, his eyes widening as if reliving a memory.

“So how was she?” Zitao repeated from his left.

“ _What on earth are you guys going on about?!”_ Sehun exploded, and pushed Jongin’s arm off his shoulder. “I did _not_ have sex with Miss Kan! I’ve don’t even _talk_ to her, where did you even-?! How?! I-!” He stopped, exasperated, and put his arms up defensively.

“Dude, the whole school knows you did,” Kris said bluntly. “Don’t deny it. You shouldn’t be embarrassed man, we’re proud of you.”

“ _I didn’t_!” Sehun screeched again. The eleven pairs of eyes just stared at him. Sehun took in a deep breath, attempting to calm himself, and then pushed through the boys so he could sit down at a desk. “Look,” he began after a moment of resting his head in his hands, “I don’t know who told you that, but I did _not_ fuck the assistant teacher.”

“You sure?” Minseok asked him. “’Cause Lisa said she was in the office and she heard Miss Kan talking to the principal, and she said-”

“ ‘Oh Sehun really sealed the deal with me last night,’ ” Jongdae broke in, speaking in an awful falsetto, a very poor imitation of Miss Kan.

“ ‘It was soooo good, too,’ ” Baekhyun continued, crooning in an equally awful high-pitched voice.

“ ‘He just gave me exactly what I needed-’ ”

" 'It really just was something exquisite-' "

" 'I enjoyed it quite thoroughly-' "

“ ‘-so no worries, Mr. San, I’m sure he’ll be just as great to you,’ ” Baekhyun finished. He and Jongdae glanced at each other and broke down into peals of laughter. 

“And lo and behold our budget gets doubled!” Jongdae howled in between laughs, tears nearly rushing down his face, and the rest of the group burst into guffaws.

Sehun stared at them open-mouthed. “Guys,” he started calmly after they had finally begun to calm down. “Miss Kan is also the head of the school newspaper.”

“Your point?” Luhan asked, wiping his eyes with a grin on his face.

“Mr. San wanted a main journalist but he wasn’t sure who to pick so he had Miss Kan organize an audition article for all the prospective journalists," Sehun explained slowly. "She asked me to write an article on grad committee. I e-mailed it to her last night. She was probably talking about my article. Not my dick.”

There was a sweet moment of silence as the rest of the boys let this sink in. Sehun watched all their faces drop. He folded his arms across his chest, feeling a blissful sense of satisfaction, and smirked. 

Then, “You _write?_ ” Kyungsoo asked incredulously, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” Jongin swiftly agreed from beside him. “Since when did you _write_?”

Sehun shrugged vaguely, feeling his cheeks tint a slight pink. “I don’t know…since always…? I appreciate you thinking my fucking is good enough to double our budget though. Jesus. Did you think my dick was magic or something?”

“What did you even write about?” Luhan demanded.

“I don’t know…” Sehun said again. “You know. Grad. How great this committee is. Although I’m starting to want to go back on that statement, you shitheads.”

There’s another moment of silence.

“So…our budget got doubled because of your article?” Junmyeon asked slowly after a few seconds.

Sehun shrugged again.

“Oh.”

Silence.

“Well…we’re still proud of you,” Yixing said reluctantly. The rest of them nodded.

Just like that they were all moving again, grabbing lunches from bags. Within moments Sehun was completely forgotten and the eleven boys had spread themselves out across the desks of the empty classroom, munching on japchae and jiggae, busy in conversation.

 

-

 

“So, what are we going to do with the extra money?” Junmyeon asked thoughtfully. It was a usual Tuesday night round-up and he was positioned at the mantle of his living room fireplace, facing nine other boys. They were all restless because the food still hadn’t arrived. Neither had Jongdae or Yixing.

“I had a few ideas,” Junmyeon continued fretfully, and pointed to the white board he had set up beside him, which was covered in colourful notes, organized to the T. The boys stared with a glazed-over dissatisfaction, clearly hungry, but Junmyeon soldiered on, having long ago realized that talking to the boys while they were hungry and bored was much better than attempting to talk to them while they could otherwise occupy themselves with fried noodles and soda.

“Where’re Jongdae and Yixing?” Baekhyun interrupted him mid-sentence, clearly feeling Jongdae’s hyper absence.

“I don’t know,” Junmyeon answered curtly. “But we don’t have time to waste to wait for them.” He had already given them five minutes, and waiting any longer would cause the gap between the boredom-induced hunger and food to whither away to nothing.

He raised his pointer to the white board to continue, but then as if on cue, Yixing burst into the living room, dragging a half-asleep Jongdae behind him.

“Hey mah dudes,” Yixing smiled languidly, raising a lazy hand to wave. As he waved, he began to make little circles with his fingers, giggling, and the nine others turned to stare at him.  Junmyeon felt his heart drop. Really, Yixing? Was this really necessary today? Junmmyeon sighed, frowning crossly as Yixing collapsed onto the couch. He was high as a kite. And judging by Jongdae’s distressed murmuring into Yixing’s shoulder, so was he.

“Hey!” Baekhyun answered him, brightening, and he snuggled closer to Chanyeol so there would be room for the two of them on the couch.

“I’m just…so glad…to see you,” Jongdae mumbled incoherently, and sat himself down beside Baekhyun. “All of you…you’re all such blessings in my life…eleven… blessings…” He paused to yawn.

“Ok, sit down and be quiet,” Junmyeon snapped, uncharacteristically sharp. It wasn't that he wasn't used to this, but sometimes it just got exhausting, you know? Didn't he deserve a break? He wasn’t even through a quarter of his notes.

After a thoroughly one-sided discussion (mostly consisting of Junmyeon reading off his notes, waiting for replies, and then replying to himself, along with occasional unrelated questions from Yixing and Jongdae), Junmyeon still hadn’t come to a conclusion.

“Guys,” he said desperately. “I’ve really tried to give you all the information you need- so should we spend it on better decorations, food, music-”

“-we could buy dragons, like little chocolate covered ones, and then you could breathe fire after you ate them-”

“-or a better venue?” Junmyeon ignored Yixing’s interruption. “Guys? Hello?”

“Why don’t we split it evenly four ways?” Kyungsoo asked cautiously with wide eyes. Junmyeon felt a rush of affection for the newbie, glad that he was still at least trying to help. 

“It’s not really worth it,” Junmyeon replied. “We could split it two ways, maybe three, but four ways we wouldn’t even be really able to upgrade anything. So if we’re going to split, we still have to decide which ones are most important.”

“Food,” Luhan said carelessly.

“I already told you,” Junmyeon reprimanded him with a sigh. “The pizza will arrive at seven.”

“No,” Luhan waved his hand. “I meant food is the most important.”

“Oh,” Junmyeon said. “Wow, that was your first contribution all evening.” He erased part of his board and wrote down food in large letters. “Ok, what else?”

“Music,” Kyungsoo and Baekhyun said together. There was a chorus of agreeing noises.

“Ok,” Junmyeon nodded, and wrote that down too.  “So if we get upgrades for those two, we still have a little bit of money left over. Not really enough to do any _other_ significant upgrades- I guess we could get some other decorations? Or maybe-”

“Picture time,” Jongdae drawled from the couch, staring at the colourful board with a mystified expression on his face. “I love pictures," he said slowly, and Junmyeon was honestly too tired to stop him. "You love pictures," Jongdae continued, a grin spreading across his face. "Everyone just loooooves pictures. Portraits. Landscape. Selfies-” he began to giggle, and Yixing punched him affectionately on the shoulder. “Don’t touch me!” Jongdae squeaked, fighting back against Yixing, and then suddenly before anyone else knew what was happening, the two were all over each other, making out with such drug-induced passion that Baekhyun opted to jump off the couch in disgust.

“Ugh, get a room,” Zitao wrinkled his nose from the other couch, where he was curled up in Kris’s lap, his hand resting underneath his shirt by the waistband of his jeans. “No one wants to see that.”

“He actually has a point though,” Kyungsoo said hesitantly. “We could spend the extra money on a professional photographer.”

“Huh,” Junmyeon said, mulling over the numbers in his head. “I suppose that would work. Maybe three hours…three hundred dollars, yah, that would be perfect for our budget, actually.”

“Good thinking,” Jongin smiled awkwardly at Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo half-smiled back, his cheeks tinting pink. The tension between them still hadn’t quite faded since Kris’s fateful party.

“He’s a genius!” Yixing pronounced giddily, coming up for air from Jongdae’s mouth to say it. Jongdae giggled from underneath him and then swiftly pulled him back down.

“Oh god,” Sehun grimaced. “Remind me to never get high with these two.”

As he finished his sentence, the doorbell rang and the whole group let out a grateful collective breath.

“Pizza’s here,” Junmyeon said unnecessarily. “Come on guys,” he glanced back at Yixing and Jongdae. “…we’ll eat in the dining room.”

 

-

 

“So,” Sehun began, sliding himself between the subway train doors next to Jongin. “Who’re you taking to grad?”

“W-what?” Jongin started, stumbling a bit as the train began to move. “Sehun, it’s not even November. Why are you thinking about that now?”

Sehun shrugged lazily. “We _are_ on grad committee, dude. Why are you _not_ thinking about it? But, uh, I was hooking up with this girl yesterday and she kind of mentioned it. I was drunk so…I think I already have a date. I’m not sure.”

“You said yes?” Jongin asked incredulously. “What happened to the football sophomore?”

“He got busy with football,” Sehun answered simply. “Anyway, who are you taking?”

“I don’t know yet,” Jongin said slowly. “It’s too early to start thinking about that stuff.”

“Oh c’mon,” Sehun insisted with a grin. “You have someone in mind, don’t even try to pull that one with me.”

“I do not-” Jongin protested.

“-Kyungsoo,” Sehun cut him off. “You haven’t shut up about him since he started here. Trust me. I know. I spend way more time with you then I should. I _know_.”

Jongin’s face quickly turned a bright shade of red and Sehun laughed. “Dude, just ask him out.”

Jongin hesitated slightly. “It’s been a little weird lately.”

Sehun rolled his eyes. “Whatever, you guys made out once drunk. It’s chill. That’s like…literally half our gym class for me. Anyway, you still like him, don’t you?”

Jongin refused to answer out loud, instead giving a reluctant, barely perceptible nod.

“Then fix it!” Sehun admonished him, and walked towards the door as the train slowed to his stop. “Fix it, man.” With that he waved goodbye and stepped out onto the train platform.

Jongin gave a weak wave back, watching as the doors closed behind his friend, and then sighed heavily. Fix it. 

 

**A/N: Hi there again! I know it's been a while, I'm so so sorry. Things have gotten in the way, my tumblr got shut down, and just ugh, I've been having trouble finding motivation, but here you are, an update! I hope you enjoyed this, even if it was a little short. Also, if anyone has any prompts/scenarios/ideas you would like me to write into this story, please leave it in the comments or just let me know! I definitely need the inspiration. Anyway, thanks for reading <3**


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ot12 celebrates Halloween.

“Can you help me for a sec?”

“Sure,” Minseok answered Luhan, and leaned over to fasten Luhan’s sheath around his tattered green shirt. His fingers fumbled around the buckles before he stepped back. “Good?”

“Yeah, thanks. How do I look?” Luhan turned to face him, placing a green feather cap over his wispy auburn hair.

“Great,” Minseok answered him honestly, admiring his costume with revere. “You’re the cutest Peter Pan I’ve ever seen.”

“Peter Han,” Luhan said with a giggle, and then turned back to the mirror to adjust the sheath again over his slender hips.

“I really like those pants,” Minseok said innocently, while blatantly staring at Luhan’s butt in his green tights.

“Shut up, Captain Seok,” Luhan admonished cheerfully, and turned to give him a peck on the forehead. He drew back, long lashes fluttering over pink cheeks, and Minseok felt his chest tighten in adoration.

“Shall we?” Minseok asked, and then held out his left hand with a mischevious grin.

Luhan looked at his outstretched “hand”, which was secured inside a fake prop hook, and rolled his eyes. “Fix your hat, Baozi, it’s falling into your eyes.” With that he gingerly wrapped two fingers around Minseok’s hook and pulled opened the door. “Let’s go throw a kickass costume party.”

 

-

 

Kyungsoo knocked on Luhan’s apartment door only to find that it was already open. He pushed it cautiously inward and then stepped inside, relieved to find that it wasn’t half as crowded as Kris’s had been. There had been a fair bit of screaming over who’s house they should be at, but it was Luhan that said his parents would be away, ultimately winning the rest of them over. Kyungsoo observed the partygoers with wide eyes, realizing hotly that he was a little underdressed. The committee had organized a Halloween costume contest/ excuse for a party as a fundraising attempt, and the guests had definitely pulled through. He searched the room for a familiar face and was drawn, naturally, to Jongin.

 _Wow, he’s a God,_ he thought for what must’ve been the hundredth time that semester, but this time he meant it. Jongin had a sheet wrapped expertly around his chiseled body, leaving one shoulder and the majority of his tan legs bare. A crown of olive leaves sat in his hair, a thick leather belt held the flimsy sheet in place, and he wore a pair of strappy sandals that no one else in the room would be able to pull off. Save the red cup in his hand, he looked like the spitting image of Zeus walking among mere mortals. For a moment Kyungsoo could not help but stare, until Jongin turned his head in his direction.

Kyungsoo tore his eyes away, blushing even redder, and searched for someone else, quickly setting eyes on Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who were decked out to the nines in zombie makeup and were sneaking around attempting to scare people with their gory faces. To their right were Yixing and Jongdae, dressed respectfully as Sherlock and Watson, Yixing with his hair fluffed into a perm and Jongdae holding a monocle over his right eye. A spot-on Harley Quinn, an Iron Man and a Lady Gaga were standing talking with them, all in full-body costumes. All around, people milled about in equally elaborate outfits.

Briefly, Kyungsoo thought of going home and changing, but then gave a reluctant sigh and closed Luhan’s door behind him, stepping forward so he could be truly immersed into the party scene. He turned towards where his friends were standing, but was interrupted by a “Hey Kyungsoo!” in a sweet, clear voice. Luhan thusly appeared from the kitchen with Minseok in tow.

“Peter Pan and Hook,” Kyungsoo greeted them with a smile. “Cute.”

“Thanks,” Minseok grinned. “You look pretty good too.”

Kyungsoo looked down at his baggy panda onesie and immediately turned scarlet. “Yeah…sorry. I didn’t realize that you guys were so serious about the costume thing.”

“It’s ok,” Luhan said with a trilling laugh. “Look at Zitao and Kris.” Kyungsoo turned to the corner where Luhan had pointed, squinting his eyes to see in the dim lights. Zitao looked quite normal for Zitao, wearing leather leggings and a flashing silver shirt made of thin chain. The only things that really stood out as costume were a generous dusting of silver highlighter across his cheekbones and a pair of matching silver antennae on his head (when Kyungsoo inquired later, Zitao told him he was an alien). Kris had tried even less, in cutoffs, a floral print shirt and sunglasses, he told questioning people he was a surfer.

“There’s drinks in the kitchen,” Luhan told him from behind, and then was swept away to welcome more guests.

 

-

 

“Wow,” Baekhyun remarked when Junmyeon stepped into Luhan’s apartment. “ _Wow.”_

“Hey guys,” Junmyeon greeted them cheerfully after squeezing his costume through the doorway, and then waddled up awkwardly. He had been transformed into a DIY ketchup bottle, giant pieces of cardboard cut so they created a bottle shape around his body and then painted red. It was so large that his arms couldn’t rest against his sides and instead hovered outside of the stiff contraption. His legs could barely move beneath, and were reduced to shuffling forward in tiny steps. To top it all off, Junmyeon had painstakingly covered every spot of open skin with red bodypaint, including his face. When he smiled the whites of his teeth glowed against his red skin with a queer sort of monstrous quality.

“Wow,” Baekhyun repeated.

 

-

 

Kyungsoo forced his way out onto the balcony and then slipped the panda hood off his face, sucking in the cool air with relief. His hair had gone sweaty and sticky against his forehead from the fluffy hot onesie, and he sank back against the wall, tired.

“Hey,” came a familiar voice from beside him, and Kyungsoo jumped. Sehun stood to his right, surrounded by three girls in costumes that left very little to the imagination. Sehun himself sported a royal blue jacket with a high collar and long coattails, worn over tight pants and knee-high black riding boots. Thick gold chord crisscrossed over the hooks on his jacket like laces on figure skates. With the matching gold crown that sat atop his newly dyed velvet black hair, Kyungsoo thought he resembled a dangerously handsome vampire prince.

“Hey,” he answered him awkwardly, and then shuffled to the other side of the tiny balcony to give Sehun and his posse as much room as possible.

They stood like that for a while, the three girls chatting Sehun up while Kyungsoo desperately tried to ignore it, too hot to go back inside. Finally, the girls gave some simpering smiles and slipped back into the house, and Sehun sidled over to stand with Kyungsoo. “Having fun?” he asked in a distracted voice.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo lied, and then scuffed his foot against the ground. “I wish I had a better costume.”

“It’s fine, you look adorable,” Sehun told him, still sounding slightly absent. “Sorry, I think I’m gonna go back inside. I might have a chance with one of those chicks.” He turned to open the door, and then looked back at the last moment. “Don’t move.”

“What?” Kyungsoo called after him, but he was already gone.

 

-

 

Sehun sidled up to where Jongin stood chatting with Sulli and said casually, “He’s outside.”

“I-sorry, what?” Jongin turned to him, breaking off mid-sentence.

“Kyungsoo,” Sehun answered him easily, grabbed his cup to take a sip, put it back in his hand with a disgusted grimace of, “Really? Ginger ale?” and then disappeared back into the crowd. Jongin looked after him for a moment, confused, and then turned apologetically back to Sulli.

“Give me a minute,” he told her, and she nodded with a bright smile, already turning to someone else.

Jongin found Kyungsoo alone with his back against the balcony, eyes closed.

“Hi,” he shyly greeted him, and Kyungsoo’s eyes snapped open.

“Oh-Jongin-hi!” Kyungsoo answered him in one breath, and then smiled hesitantly. “Hi.”

“I like your costume.”

“Thanks. I like yours too.”

“Thanks.”

For a moment Jongin was blank for words, unsure why he was out here in the first place, and in the awkward silence, found himself talking. “I just wanted to tell you- you’re really cool, and I’m sorry about what happened at Kris’s…you’re really great, like really _so_ great, and I don’t want you to think I do things like that all the time, because I really don’t, I swear, I was just drunk and stupid and I’m sorry- I’m not even drinking tonight, see?” He took a breath, realizing that he was holding out his cup with a shaking hand, trying to show Kyungsoo that the liquid substance inside was mere ginger ale instead of beer. He pulled the cup back in, feeling immediately stupid, and his eyes darted down to his shoes.

Kyungsoo stood quietly in front of him, the sleeves of his onesie falling past his fingers and making him look even more adorable then he normally did. For a moment Jongin realized he was too terrified to even try to meet his wide eyes.

“You’re pretty great too, Jongin.”

For a moment Jongin doesn’t dare lift his head, afraid that he had merely imagined Kyungsoo saying the soft words, but when he finally does he sees that he is smiling affectionately at him, his eyes lit with amusement. “Y- you think so?”

“I do,” Kyungsoo answered him simply, cheeks flushed pink, and Jongin smiled goofily back at him.

“So…we’re good then?”

“We are.”

Jongin let out a breath of relief, and then nodded back towards the doors. “C’mon. I think the costume parade is about to start.”

 

-

 

“GUYS! LINE UP!” Jongdae screamed into the megaphone. Luhan slapped his hands over his ears while squeaking in pain, and quickly snatched the device from Jongdae.

“If you want to enter the contest, please line up,” Luhan corrected hastily, and then gave Jongdae a glare.

“I didn’t realize it was so loud,” he shrugged sheepishly.

“It’s a megaphone, dumbass,” Kris said from behind him, and promptly stole it from Luhan to wolf call into it at the crowd.

“Ok, that’s enough with that,” Minseok said with a cringe, and gently lifted the megaphone from Kris’s hands to stash it away somewhere safe.

Junmyeon waddled slowly down the line of people, holding out a box for them to each pay the contest entrance fee of five dollars. The majority of the crowd gladly forked it over, the prize for winning the contest being a free ticket to grad. The whole set-up had been Kyungsoo’s genius idea, but the other boys and quickly managed to turn it into an excuse for throwing a Halloween party. They had marked out a crude catwalk with masking tape that went in a small circle around Luhan’s apartment for the parade. After Junmyeon had finished his painfully slow collection of money, the partygoers crowded to one side of the cramped living room and Kris proceeded to turn on some wailing music over the speakers.

“OK, ONE BY ONE NOW!” Jongdae screeched over the music, and everyone collectively winced. “WE ARE THE JUDGES, SO YOU BETTER IMPRESS US WITH YOUR STRUT! LEAVE IT ALL OUT THERE, MOTHERFUCKEEERS!!”

Slowly but surely, people began to dance down the catwalk, one by one or in partners. At first they were self-consciously hesitant, but Kris cranked the music up even louder and the guests loosened up.

“Oh, I think he's gonna win,” Jongin laughed to Kyungsoo after a boy in a horse mask went neighing down the runway at a full sprint, and Kyungsoo laughed back, the two grinning from the balcony doors where they had unconsciously looped fingers.

Zitao stood with Sehun and Jongdae to the side, the three of them scrutinizing every costumed person that strutted down the walk. Girls in cat costumes, guys with superhero capes and built-in muscles, and small groups dressed in matching  themed outfits all skipped down the runway, happily drunk and laughing.

“C’mon guys, let’s go down too!” Baekhyun yelled at them, and then the committee members slowly made their way over to the line-up so they could take their chance at the catwalk as well. He and Chanyeol went first, zombieing their way down interspersed with questionable dance moves. Next were Luhan and Minseok, who scampered down with smiles on their faces, clearly happy to have thrown a successful party. Kris, Zitao and Sehun walked down with minimal interest, all of them with their hands shoved in their pockets like gang members. Yixing and Jongdae danced their way, Yixing very impressively and Jongdae decidedly less so. Kyungsoo and Jongin strolled down swinging their conjoined hands, laughing as they did so. Last was Junmyeon, who bumbled down the catwalk with his red hands sticking out to keep his balance, attempting to strut but unable to in the bulky bottle, and instead managing to look even more cumbersome than he already did.

Parade complete, the prize was forgotten as people opted to instead continue dancing, spreading over the small apartment while pumping their fists. This would continue in a similar fashion into the early hours of the morning, and the committee would forget all about the prize until a week later when a group of sophomore girls stopped Junmyeon in the hallway, demanding to know the winner. Flustered, Junmyeon would quickly write down an IOU on a scrap of paper, hand it to one of the angry girls, and scurry away before she could protest. 

**A/N: Hello hello! Look at me, bringing this back. I'm sorry this is becoming so Kaisoo oriented...clearly I have an OTP. If there's another pairing in the au you'd like to see featured more, please let me know. And as I said on the last chapter, please please please send in prompts! I need some more inspiration. But as always thanks for reading and I hope you're having a great day <3**


	7. Chapter 6.5?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A history of selukai

**A/N: Ok, really quick please read this because it's important: this is _not funny_ (at least not on purpose), it doesn't really fit the vibe of the story at all, but I had this thought and I had to write it so I sat down and I just spit it out in like an hour. Selukai has always been one of my absolute favorite relationships and I didn't think I was going to put it into this story, but I just had a flash and it needed to be written down. It turned out way longer than I expected and when I read it over I realized it didn't really fit the story. But I didn't want to change it to be funny or anything, I just wanted to show it to you guys the way it is. So here you go, if you don't like backstory then I'm sorry just skip this, but I do really like how it turned out so yeah. Here ya go. **

 

Kyungsoo wandered into the school library, taking a hesitant seat near one of the great bay windows, lucky to find an empty table. Usually he had History during this hour, but quite a few students were writing a replacement test and the teacher had told the others to use the class as a study period. Kyungsoo spread his binders carefully across the table, trying to decide which class would be the most productive. It was midterms week, before winter break, and in Kyungsoo’s eyes, each minute to study had become a precious commodity.

“Hey,” a voice interrupted him just as he had chosen Calculus, and then Sehun appeared in his view, sitting himself in the seat across.

“Hi,” Kyungsoo squeaked out in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Skipping,” Sehun shrugged, spreading his legs across another seat. “I hate Math.”

“…Oh,” Kyungsoo managed in response. For him, skipping seemed like a foreign concept, especially since it was clear to him that Sehun was a smart kid. But over the few months he had spent with Sehun, he had quickly realized that it was kind of hopeless to argue with him.

“Why are _you_ here?” Sehun asked him, eyeing his colour-coded binders. “Don’t you have class?”

“The teacher gave us a spare,” Kyungsoo said. “I’m studying.”

“Ah,” Sehun nodded. “Right. Mid-terms.”

“Yup,” Kyungsoo answered awkwardly, and began to take out his pencils. He couldn’t think of anything else to say, and in the silence he opted to start taking notes, opening his Calc book to Arbitrary Constants.

“So,” Sehun said after a minute or so of watching Kyungsoo read his textbook, “You and Jongin, hey?”

Kyungsoo dropped his pencil. He fumbled for it for a moment, stuttering, and looked up to see Sehun watching him with what might have been dry amusement. “Um,” he answered once he had retrieved his pencil. “Well.”

Sehun raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

Kyungsoo bit his lip again, not sure what to say to appease him.

“You guys dating?” Sehun prompted him casually.

“No,” Kyungsoo said quickly. Sehun’s eyebrows rose again. “I mean,” Kyungsoo spluttered, “I mean, yes. Sort of. We're just not telling people. I'm sorry, I was just surprised you knew. But you're his best friend... of course he told you.”

Sehun shrugged. “Yeah, he’s told me. I just wanted to hear what you would say.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo answered uncomfortably, biting his lip again.

“I thought it was weird that he made me promise not to tell anyone,” Sehun continued smoothly. “There a reason you guys are keeping it on the down low?”

Kyungsoo shrugged again, feeling his cheeks flush. “No- Yes-well yes, of course.” He glanced down at his hands, unable to meet Sehun’s eyes. “It’s just. Well. My parents wouldn’t be thrilled with me dating someone- I’m supposed to focus on school. And…” He paused, swallowing.

“And?” Sehun urged him.

“Um,” Kyungsoo mumbled. “You know. They wouldn’t be thrilled with me dating a…him.”

“Ah,” Sehun nodded in understanding. “I see.” They lapsed into another silence. Kyungsoo threw himself back into his problems, trying to control the flush in his cheeks.

“I would be careful,” Sehun said after a moment.

Kyungsoo looked up. “Careful of what?” he asked.

Sehun shrugged. “Keeping things casual. It never ends well.”

Kyungsoo swallowed. “Okay.” He turned back to his binder.

“Kyungsoo,” Sehun said, and his voice had suddenly gone soft. “I mean it.”

“Why do you care so much?” Kyungsoo demanded sharply. He kind of wished Sehun would leave. He had to study.

“You like him a lot, I can tell,” Sehun said, unfazed. “And Jongin likes you a lot too. For his sake- for yours too- I just don’t want it to end badly.”

“You don’t know that it will,” Kyungsoo said.

Sehun shrugged. “I’ve been there, that’s all I’m saying.”

Kyungsoo glanced at him in surprise. He eyed Sehun again, his body spread languidly out in arrogant seductive grace. Everything about him- from the fading hickeys on his collarbone he had barely tried to cover, to the tousled mass of _I just had sex_ styled hair, to the corner of a condom packet poking out of his tight jeans- it all screamed _fuck me and leave me, I don’t give a shit because I’ll probably leave first._ Kyungsoo couldn’t imagine Sehun actually _liking_ someone, let alone him actually caring enough to be hurt. “Is that so,” he finally managed to say, and carefully put down his pencil. “Someone broke your heart?”

Sehun smiled wanly. “Two people. It’s okay though. We’re still friends.”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow. “Do I…know them?”

Sehun nodded with a shrew smile. “You’re dating one of them.”

“What?” Kyungsoo gasped, unable to contain himself. He stopped, waiting for Sehun to say _Just kidding!_ But of course he didn’t. “ _Jongin?_ And _you?_ ”

Sehun laughed. “Nah. I mean, I’ve hooked up with him before, but that was before we really knew each other. No. It’s not what you think. It’s a little more…” he paused, his mouth twisting downward, “…complicated.”

“Care to explain?” Kyungsoo asked dryly. He sounded much calmer than he felt, his mind whirling at the thought of Jongin in bed with- nope, he didn’t even want to think about it. Not even a little bit.

“Sure,” Sehun answered. “It’s not like it matters now anyway.” He took his feet off the chair, sitting up properly and leaning in casually towards Kyungsoo. “So, me and Luhan used to be a thing.”

“ _What?_ ” Kyungsoo spluttered, again unable to stop himself. Sehun gave him a look. “I mean…okay. Cool. Go on,” he managed, head spinning.

“A thing,” Sehun continued smoothly, his face blank. “But not dating. Because he didn’t want anything serious, and I liked him, so it was whatever. I would’ve accepted anything he said, as long as we hung out and fucked.” He paused, fingers twitching. “So we weren’t serious. No one even really knew. And Luhan- see, he was a party animal, so he would go out to parties all the time, and sometimes I’d hear stories- he kissed this guy, this other guy felt him up, whatever.” He stopped again, looking down at his hands. “I didn’t really listen. And I believed him when he said it wasn’t true, because I liked him and I- I never saw it myself because I never went to parties. I wasn’t into that stuff.” He smiled wryly, and looked back up at Kyungsoo. “I was like you. I cared so much about school, I’d never go out and drink and fuck myself up like that.”

Kyungsoo took this in, his hand tightening over his pencil to keep himself from not screaming. Sehun? Not into partying? Into… _studying?_ Yet he managed to refrain himself from yelling, and Sehun continued.

“Anyway, one time I thought I should go. Just to experience it, you know? So I did. And it was fun, it was chill. Until,” he stopped, licking his lips, and at the edge of the next sentence Kyungsoo could hear his voice crack.   “Until I walked in on Luhan blowing Jongin.”

At this Kyungsoo audibly gasped. His pencil dropped from his hand again.

“Jongin was my best friend at the time,” Sehun continued, fast and stormy now, his eyes downcast. “But I didn’t tell him how much I liked Luhan, because Lu told me to keep it quiet, and I did, I listened to him. I didn’t tell anyone. As far as Jongin knew we just hooked up occasionally…which I guess in the end…was all it was. But I did like him, I liked him a lot, Kyungsoo. I _believed_ him.” He stopped to breathe again, and Kyungsoo just looked at him, a million things making sense at once. When he spoke again, Sehun looked back up at Kyungsoo, and he saw that his face was blank again. “So I stopped talking to both of them for a while, and they figured out on their own that they hurt me. I couldn’t talk to Jongin without wanting to hit him so I needed another friend- Tao and I became close, so that was good I guess, but then he started dating Kris and it sucked too much to see them together. By that time it had been a couple months, so Jongin and I were sort of okay again.” He leaned back, folding his arms across his chest. “That was last year. Funny thing, after that, Luhan stopped drinking and partying almost completely. And he started dating Minseok. Minseok, who was insistent on something serious, who hates parties as much as I did. Except it’s not a problem for them. Not now.”

Kyungsoo stared at him, everything crashing down into understanding. So _this_ was why Sehun was so flighty, sleeping with whatever walked on two legs and would have him. This was why he was at a party every weekend, drinking away, not giving half a damn about his schoolwork. It was all because some pretty boy had shattered his heart. And it had ruined him.

Kyungsoo wondered if Sehun saw the irony that he had basically turned into the person who had hurt him.

For a while they just sat there, opposite of each other, and then Sehun stood abruptly.   “I should get back to class,” he told Kyungsoo. “I left my bag.” And with that he was strolling away, leaving Kyungsoo behind to study in peace.


End file.
